Bangers & Mash

When I lived in England, one of my favorite comfort foods was bangers & mash, proper old-school-pub-style.  A giant mound of mashed potatoes and a big ol' sausage with gravy on top...  Yeah.  That pretty much screams winter, cozy, comfort food. It also screams 3.9 bajillion calories.

I decided to see if I could satisfy the craving without the guilt for under 350 calories.  As far as I'm concerned, it was a TOTAL SUCCESS.  It's still a little heavy on carbs and sodium, but it's a pretty great alternative!

The trick?  Smoked turkey sausage, parsnips, and cauliflower.


Serves 4.


1 Hillshire Farms Turkey Smoked Sausage
1lb parsnips
1/2 a large head of cauliflower
1 packet brown gravy mix (I used Spartan)
4oz of mushroom
1 medium whole yellow onion
1/2 tsp rosemary
2 tbs light salted butter
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp powdered garlic
1tsp Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce



Prepare your gravy mix as directed on package.  Peel & chop parsnips, and chop cauliflower with a fair bit of the stalk cut off.  Chop sausage into 4 even sections. Slice mushrooms and onion.

Pour your prepared gravy mix into a sauce pan, then add garlic powder, rosemary, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, mushrooms, and onions.  Let cook on medium low heat while everything else is cooking.

Put your parsnips in a large pan to boil for about 10-15 minutes, until tender but not fully cooked, then add the cauliflower and boil for about 10 more minutes or until tender, but not mushy.

Put sausage in the oven after you add the cauliflower, and broil on each side for about 5-7 minutes, or until each side is a bit crispy and it is cooked through.

Drain your parsnips & cauliflower.  Combine butter, salt, cauliflower and parsnips in a mixing bowl and mash to desired consistency.

Now, for the fun part...  Place approximately 1 cup of parsnip/cauliflower "potatoes" on each plate, dole out a portion of sausage, pour your mushroom onion gravy on top, and voila.  Enjoy.

Nutritional info (per serving):
Calories - 330
Carbs - 41
Fat - 12
Protein - 18
Sodium - 1650
Fiber - 10


Weight Watchers Points Plus:  7pts (calculated without "free" vegetables)


Please forgive me if my timing isn't 100% accurate.  I have to admit, I pretty much wing it, but I will start keeping track of how long I cook things!  If you're watching your sodium intake, this may not be for you.  If you try it, let me know how it worked for you or if you have any ideas or alternatives the rest of us might enjoy!

Good eats, and only 220 calories.

Eating healthy has helped me get a lot more creative with food.  Flavors, textures, new ingredients  - great flavor doesn't have to be bad for you!  Experimentation is exciting and, so far, pretty rewarding.  Here's my latest concoction.

Without the appetizer, the entire meal is only 220 calories.  If you feel like gettin' crazy and adding the appetizer, the entire deal is still only 399 calories!  Serves four, by the way.

Le Bonne Vie tomato basil goat
cheese & "Everything" Pretzel Crisps .

Appetizer:

1oz Le Bonne Vie tomato & basil goat cheese (1/4 of a small log)

11 Everything Pretzel Crisps

Dinner Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash

1 can Red Gold petite diced tomatoes

5 cloves garlic 

1/2 a medium sized onion (about 3" diameter)

1 green pepper

1 tomato

2 Bruce Aidells artichoke & garlic sausages

1 small box (about 8oz) of mushrooms

2 tsp herbs de province

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano

healthy sprinkling of pepper & dash of sea salt (to your liking)

Preparation:

Chop up your veggies.  I left mine in big chunks this time.  I love it when garlic isn't finely chopped!  You don't have to use a fresh tomato, but I really like big pieces of fresh vegetables mixed in.

Cut the squash in half, take out the seeds, and lay it flat (skin side up) on a plate. Not a bad idea to throw a bit of water into it before you flip it over and lay it down - makes it moist.  

Cut the sausages into about 1cm thick slices and cook for a couple of minutes on each side with the chopped onion in a large sauce pan.  

Now, get the squash cookin'!  Microwave it for 12 minutes.  If you can run a fork through it like a comb, scoop it out into a bowl and have a bite to see if you're happy with the texture.  I'd prefer mine to be a hair crunchy rather than mushy.  If it's mushy, it loses it's awesome spaghetti-ness.  

Stir your canned tomato, real tomato, mushrooms, garlic, green pepper, and spices into the sauce pan and cook until veggies are partly done.  Take the lid off for the rest of the time and let simmer so that some of the water evaporates the sauce gets thicker.  I'm sure there are technical terms for these things, I just know that it tastes better when it's less liquidy!

Serve it up, and enjoy!

Nutrition info:

Calories - 220

Carbs - 26

Fat - 8

Protein - 14

Fiber - 7

Sodium - 680, not including sea salt

Click here for cheese nutrition info, and here for pretzels.


Nov. 11, 2011 - NOTE!  Spaghetti squash definitely turns out better if you bake it.  Cut it in half and put it skin-side-up on a baking pan and into the oven.  It's fine in the microwave, but if you've got the time, bake it for an hour or so at 350.  You can even do it in advance & leave it in the skin, then scrape out & warm when you're ready to eat it!  The texture's better.